Skies and Seas
by aisleland
Summary: After the events of the Titan's Curse, Penny Jackson is moving to San Francisco with her mother. She just so happens to meet Jason Grace, the boy who looks all too much like Luke. This is their story. Darker HoO, Fem!Percy AU, formerly La Douleur Exquise, being rewritten.


**Here's chapter 1 of the rewrite. I don't really know if I'll update this regularly, but I really didn't want to leave the old version up.**

**I'd tell more about the story, but I kinda figure at this point I'll just reveal it in the story with context clues and I don't have to write a long AN. Whatever. See you in a (week/month/year/decade/century/millennium/heatdeathoftheuniverse).**

**p.s. I know Jason's OOC. Don't worry. Everything will fall into place.**

* * *

**MOVING TO CALIFORNIA WAS NOT HIGH ON PENELOPE JACKSON'S WISH LIST.**

Sure, the weather was lovely, the climate being so much better than dreary New York, and yes, the beaches were more plentiful, but there were downsides to her new home.

For starters, she might run into that old pervert Nereus again_._ The old man was crass, rude, and didn't give a damn about the consequences of harassing a group of teenage girls, even with a thousands-years old Hunter of Artemis glaring at him.

And of course, it had to be Penny that had to hang on to him as he tried to slip away, as he shapeshifted between several different forms of aquatic sea life before settling with his creepy human self, wearing a speedo.

And _only_ a speedo.

Then, there was Kronos' army. Monsters, like the Minotaur, Manticore, Chimera, and probably thousands more that Annabeth could list off the top of her head. Demigods, who she'd have to face and kill eventually.

Could she even kill another human? Penny couldn't barely bring herself to let Tyson go at first, and he was a Cyclops. If she ran into a traitor... if she ran into _the_ traitor...

Luke had enchanted her when they first met. She admittedly had a crush on him when they first met. Gods, she _still_ had a crush on him. She wistfully recalled his dry, sarcastic attitude, his messy blonde hair, the scar on his face.

She saw him in her dreams sometimes; it was never good things, though. Luke, mercilessly putting something- or rather, _someone_\- down with a cruel grin on his face. Luke commanding legions of monsters to march, none of it made her feel any better about him.

Despite the distance and dangers of being so far away from camp, she _had_ to do this. Her mother, a marine biologist, had gotten a job offer from the San Francisco aquarium, way better than her old life of working at a candy shop for a little over minimum wage.

Sally had told her that she could stay at camp full time, but Penny refused. There was _no_ way she was leaving her mother.

That was her fatal flaw, she assumed. Her mother had named her Penelope, after the ever-faithful wife of Odysseus. Poseidon had told her mother that his children never consistently had a single flaw, but loyalty was by far one of the easiest to have for them.

Penny was definitely loyal. She could probably die here, so close to Mount Tam, so far away from any support from Camp, but she'd be dead in the ground, buried six feet under before she would let her mother stay in a brand new home and city all alone.

Grover had complained and protested, bringing up the dangers she had gone over all too often in her mind. Annabeth understood, though. The daughter of Athena knew what it was like to be away from your family for far too long. Thalia hadn't said anything to her about it though. They weren't too close, but she normally let whatever her thoughts were out.

Thalia had become the Lieutenant of Artemis, leading the hunt in return for saving Artemis, filling in the vacuum left behind by Zöe Nightshade. Bessie the Sea Cow, in return for not dying and utterly dooming Olympus got to roam around the city of the gods without a care in the world. Then, Penny, in reward for saving Bessie the Sea Cow, Lady Artemis, and Annabeth, became the prophecy child again, given a pat on the back, and was told that she would not be killed by the council.

She hoped that would apply to not getting shot down by a lightning bolt mid-flight.

Sally was already in San Francisco. Penny was going to fly to Oakland, where their new apartment was, but that would require some connecting flights.

_There's no better way to royally piss off Zeus than to take not one, but two whole flights across the country!_ She thought to herself.

The hours before the early-bird flight were agonizing. At most, she got one or two hours of sleep, spending most of her time imagining the various ways the plane would go down. In the morning, she was practically half-dead. It took all her willpower to make herself look somewhat presentable, throwing her long black hair thrown into a loose ponytail.

She didn't even bother doing her makeup. She normally made her face look as plain as she could, but apparently, Aphrodite had "blessed" her in return for a completely messed up love life. Today however, especially since she barely had enough skill to regularly do her makeup, a half-awake Penny Jackson couldn't even try it.

It was still dark outside, especially since it was only four in the morning, with the cabins and other paths lit only by the occasional torchlight. Penny could imagine the sunlight breaking through the clouds on the horizon later in the morning, where she assumed Apollo would be driving at break-neck speeds, maybe even with a nymph or some other girl curled up next to him. She could picture him with a designer pair of Ray-Bans, windswept blonde hair textured to perfection, with a carefree air to it, and a smile nearly as bright as the sun.

Maybe she had a crush on Apollo, too. She shook her head slightly. It could never happen between them anyways. He was a god, and Poseidon would probably be furious that the biggest womanizer in the universe was with his daughter. Zeus would be furious that she survived long enough to be with someone.

As a favor, to both her and to Thalia, Artemis allowed her new lieutenant to drive her to the airport in one of the camp vans.

The daughter of Zeus, dressed in a Hunter's parka and camo, met her by the Big House, idly swinging her keys in her gloved hand. She looked calm, eyes wandering around before locking on to Penny's sea green irises.

"You ready to go, Pen?" She asked, standing up as they got closer to each other.

Penny nodded. "We'd better get going," she said, gesturing towards the van.

The two girls lifted her suitcases and climbed into the van, Thalia driving and Penny sitting shotgun. They spoke few words to each other. Penny turned on the radio after a few minutes of silence.

Christmas music flooded the van. Mariah Carey's song, "All I Want For Christmas Is You," rang in their ears. Thalia scowled, leaned down, and quickly shut it off.

"I hate Christmas music," she hissed, swerving as she narrowly missed a car.

"Sorry," Penny muttered, "Just trying to not sit here and be bored out of my mind. Grinch."

They continued their wordless procession, the only sounds being the car gliding over the road, until about they were about a minute away from the airport.

"Look, Penny. I've got bad memories of California. I used to live there before I ran away," Thalia said, breaking the tension, eyes still locked onto the road.

She nodded. "I get it Thalia. No further questions asked. None needed."

Thalia glanced towards her passenger, rolling her eyes. "Look, Seaweed Brain, my point is, I would never go back for _my_ mother. _Your_ mom, on the other hand, is different. Just, don't die, okay?"

"I'll be fine, Thals. Before you know it," Penny assured her, "'I'll be back,'" she said in a terrible Terminator accent.

The van rolled up to the passenger drop off point, where the two unloaded the van. They gave each other a hug.

"I still think you should've joined the Hunters with me," Thalia told her.

"Me? A Hunter?" Penny asked jokingly, "You really think so?"

"On second thought, I just remembered how bad you were with a bow," Thalia said, grinning at the corner of her mouth as they released their hug.

"I think you mean the best shot ever, Thals."

"Oh, so you _were_ aiming at Chiron that one time?"

"Well..."

"And of course, you were aiming all _around_ the target. A real crack shot, aren't ya?"

"Alright, whatever," Penny said, waving away Thalia. "I'll see you later."

"Hey, who knows?" Thalia said, backing off and heading to the van, "We might bump into each other later on. Maybe we'll get to hunt something in California." The daughter of Zeus walked away, getting into the van and driving off.

The check in was normal. At least, that's what she assumed. This was only her second time flying, the first time being swamped by reporters, but everything seemed to be in order. She got her tickets, gave her big suitcase to the people baggage drop and headed to the airport gates.

Penny had been through airport security before, but she still was amazed by the fact that her three-foot long sword, although not in sword form right now, wasn't setting off any alarms.

_Maybe, the security guards are massing up and are going to arrest me right before I get in the plane_, Penny thought. _Then, I won't have to fly, and it would be out of my control._

Nothing of that sort happened, and she soon forgot about it, ADHD clouding her mind as she daydreamed while looking for her gate on the side. She became lost in her thoughts, and was soon idly wandering until she heard the intercom crackle to life.

A bored voice spoke up from the speakers, saying "Gate 3, New York to Denver International Airport is now boarding."

_Huh,_ She mused to herself, _that's neat. I'm going from New York to Denver first too. What a coincidence._ She kept walking for a few seconds before stopping dead in her tracks, accidentally having the people behind bump into her.

Evidently, she was supposed to be boarding that flight. She glanced at the nearest gate. Her dyslexia would get in the way normally, but the fact that it had a giant number 10 on it certainly helped.

Penny whirled around, speedwalking back to where she came from in an effort to find gate 3. She glanced at the signs. 11, 12, 13...

_I was going the right way earlier, wasn't I? _She groaned to herself.

She turned around again, returning to her original directions. She checked all her belongings as she walked, rifling around her purse.

_Makeup, lotion, tickets, lipstick, gum... _she thought to herself, mentally checking things off. She frowned, rummaging inside.

She rifled around for a few seconds in her purse before internally shrugging. Riptide would show up eventually, either in her purse or in her pocket.

The ends of her lips curled upwards in a slight smile as she remembered complaining to Zöe Nightshade about the current state of women's clothing and especially the lack of pockets. On the other hand, a pair of jeans looked _so _much better on her without the pockets bulging.

"Gate 3, New York to Denver International Airport is now boarding," the intercom crackled again as Penny saw one of the gate agents speaking into the microphone. The other gate agent stood by the door, scanning people's tickets.

"All passengers may now board the aircraft at this time," the agent at the desk announced, leaning over and propping their head up with their elbows.

_Great. I wasn't late, for once,_ she said to herself. She got in line and waited for her turn to enter the plane. Penny glanced at her two tickets. This was where her dyslexia made everything so much more confusing, jumbling the tiny print on the small slips, looking like hieroglyphics to her.

It was one or the other. She decided to forget it and show both of them.

"Ticket please?" the agent asked. She showed her both of the tickets.

The agent smiled, "I only need this one," grabbing one of the tickets. "First time flying?" He asked politely.

"I'm dyslexic. I have no idea what this says," Penny explained.

"Oh, okay. I'm happy to help out. It says here that you are in..." The man said, glancing at the ticket, "seat 17B. Middle seat. It's not everyone's first choice, but you get what you get, am I right?"

Penny smiled appreciatively, saying "Thank you," on her way past the agent. The middle seat was allowed the two armrests. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to make up for lost sleep, unless she decided to randomly lay on a stranger's shoulder.

It was a shame she didn't buy one of those neck pillows when she had the chance.

On the other hand, she might've glanced out the window and remembered the sky god who could easily take the entire plane out, if she sat in the window seat.

She boarded the plane after a short walk on the jetway, passing the pilots and a flight attendant. Penny recalled the seat number and walked to the seventeenth row, picked up her suitcase, and placed it in.

The flight was terrible. The person on her right snored, and the one on the left smelled.

Well, maybe the one on the right. The smell was so bad, it could've been either one of them.

That, coupled with her fear of flying made it a nerve wracking experience, and she was never happier than when the plane landed.

The next flight, she figured, would be just as bad.

The second plane had two seats per row, but the seats felt smaller. It probably wouldn't bother her with her smaller frame but she imagined a particularly heavyset man would have trouble fitting in there.

She giggled to herself imagining the Minotaur packed into the tiny seat, squirming under a tight seatbelt.

Her laughter was interrupted by the arrival of her seatmate.

"Uhm, hey, I've got the window, do you mind..." a boy asked her.

"Oh yeah, no prob-" she assured him, stopping when she looked at his face. His blonde hair and blue eyes made him look enough like Luke to stop her dead in her tracks. Except, this wasn't Luke. Sure, this guy had a scar on his face, but it was in his lip, as opposed to a gash in the side of his face.

He waved his hand in front of her. "Hello? Uh, everything alright?" he asked, glancing nervously at her expression.

"Sorry, I'm just..." She tried to explain.

"Nervous?" He grinned at her, stepping past her into his seat. "First time flying?"

"Second," she answered, "Well, third counting the first flight today."

"Oh. So, what's with the look?"

"What look?" She furrowed her brow in confusion.

"You know, the uh, face you made when you just kinda snapped out of it." He told her, waving his hand over his face.

"It's nothing. Well, it's everything."

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.

"Are people normally as talkative as you are on planes?"

"Probably not. I love flying though. It's like a second home," he told her.

"My family just doesn't have the best track record with planes. A while back, my mom's parents both died in a plane crash."

"I'm... sorry. I don't know what to say."

She gave him a small smile, placing her hand on the armrest. "It's fine. I never knew them."

"Well," he said, "I'm a hundred percent sure this flight will be fine."

"A hundred? Really?" Penny asked.

"Well, yeah. The odds are crazy low that anything actually does happen. Plus, I'm sure that there's someone up there looking out for me."

She snorted. "Yeah, and I bet he hates my guts."

"Then I guess that should make us archrivals, right?" He laughed.

"Yeah, I guess that would. Do I have the pleasure of knowing the name of my nemesis"

He held his hand out for her to shake.

"Jason Grace, at your service."

"Penny Jackson," she reached out to take his hand and yelped in surprise as she felt electricity sparking through him to her.

"I guess sparks are flying, huh?" He joked.

"I don't want to think about that," She said, before regretting it immediately after saying it.

"What? Am I that ugly?" Jason asked, dramatically clutching his chest.

"No, it's not that, there's this guy. He's not my boyfriend," she says, hurriedly adding the last part, "but I had a huge crush on him."

"Oh. So, you like another guy?" He assumed, saying this in a disappointed tone.

"It's more complicated than that. He's sort of a criminal. I'm not even sure of everything he's done, but he did try to kill me at one point. Even with that though, it's like I can't shake him from my mind."

"Wow. Your life kinda sounds like it sucks. No offense."

"Yeah, it does. Wow, I just realized how all this sounds. I don't spend all my time complaining, but with the plane, and you, it just sort of happened."

"Me? I didn't even do anything!" He protested.

She shook her head, "No, it's just, the guy I was talking about earlier, you look a lot like him. That's why I spaced out earlier."

"So, what you're saying is, I look like a guy you have a crush on, so I have a chance?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I mean, I barely know you and I'm spilling out my entire life story to you. Maybe you should start talking more. Change the subject from me."

"Well, uh, what is there to talk about?" He queried.

"Uhm, I don't know. Why are you going to San Francisco?"

"Well, me and my friends," he said, pointing to a pair of snoring teens in the row next to them, "went to Pike's Peak just recently. We visited a... friend of the family who gave us some advice."

"Cool. I'm moving to Oakland from New York. My mom is a marine biologist, and she just got a job at the aquarium in San Francisco."

"Maybe I might visit one day, and we can meet up again."

"What? Like, going through my mom to find me? That'd be so weird."

"Oh man, just imagine it. 'Hey Mrs. Jackson, I met your daughter a while ago and now I want to meet up with her. What do you mean 'am I a stalker?''"

"What? It wouldn't be that bad, especially since if a cute guy comes up to her and asks to see me. I mean, unless you're secretly an old guy in some other guy's body or something."

"What? I'm cute?" He asked, eyes lighting up.

She smiled, "Yeah. I told you, you look like the guy I had a crush on. The short blond hair, the blue eyes, the scar, it's all there."

"Well, you're cute too. You don't look like anyone I know too well, but, you're hot. You've got the uh, hair, and the eyes."

"As opposed to someone with no hair or eyes?" She asked.

Jason shrugged. "I mean, I'm not seeing myself with blind cancer patients anytime soon. I guess they wouldn't be either."

"Hey, come on. That's just rude." she complained, yawning at the end.

"Tired?"

"You wouldn't believe it. Early bird flight, and it's not like I have anywhere to put my head to sleep."

"You can nap on my shoulder," Jason offered.

She scoffed, "That's awfully chivalrous of you."

"Well, I did say you were hot."

"That doesn't mean I'll fall asleep on you."

"You said I was cute."

"That doesn't change anything!"

"Look, it gives me an excuse to lift the armrest. Do you know how tiny this seat is?" Jason asked.

Penny peered closer at his chest. It was a tight fit, but he wasn't being suffocated by the lack of space. It definitely looked uncomfortable. She yawned again.

Jason gestured as if he was saying, _see? I told you._

"Okay, okay, whatever," she said, looking at Jason's pointed face. "Don't you do anything to me while I'm asleep."

"Darn. There goes my plan to draw a mustache on you while you slept. What drink do you want when the attendant comes around?"

"Just wake me up, I'll be fine."

"Whatever. Didn't want to interrupt your beauty sleep. Not that you need it, though."

"Oh shut up," she ordered, cozying up next to him and closing her eyes, slowly falling asleep while hearing the beat of his heart.

She dreamt of two armies, marching onto each other, one a brownish bronze and the other a shiny, glittering gold. A commanding voice spoke aloud.

"See what would happen, if the two were to meet," it said to her. She got her bearings in the dream, noticing that she was sitting in a lawn chair, while in front of her was a woman in a toga.

The woman had dark chestnut hair, and reminded her of the principal at one of her old schools. He held himself the same way, shoulders straight, not slouching, and completely at attention. She had the look of a warrior and a noble, regal and deadly.

She gestured to the battlefield. "I wish not for this to happen, Miss Jackson. Even if mine and yours may fight from time to time, we are all a family. War would not be favorable, even if my husband's children would partake in battle against one another."

Penny told the woman, "Just don't fight! Stay neutral and nobody has to fight. Who are you anyways?"

"I am known as the warner. This is my warning, Miss Jackson. Stay away from the boy. _Is est meus preliator._"

She was about to ask another question, but everything began fading away as she woke up.

Jason was gently shaking her awake. "Hey. We're here."

"What?" She asked groggily, eyes mostly shut while adjusting to the light.

"Yeah... I may have drank your drink, but I didn't want to bother your sleep."

"Dick."

"What? That was all I did," he protested.

Penny stretched her arms out, yawning as her hair fell down to her back. She pawed at the back of her head.

"Okay, maybe I pet your head while you were sleeping, but in my defense, it made me feel like an evil supervillain with a cat." He handed her the hairtie that he took sheepishly.

She quickly threw her hair into a quick ponytail again, and got up. She stepped into the aisle and reached for her suitcase, only to be jostled out of the way by Jason.

"Yeah, I've got you," the blonde said, taking the bag and handing it to her.

"Thanks," she called out while walking away, "but I didn't need it."

He grabbed his suitcase and hustled towards her, then when he caught up he slowed down to her speed. Jason continued his chivalrous act, grabbing her big suitcase from the baggage claim, while his friends finally found him.

"Jason, come on. We can't waste time," the boy who had dark hair and a strong jaw said, tugging at his arm.

The other, taking a swig from a bottle he then placed back in his pack said, "Dude, he's with a chick. Bro code, remember?"

"Dakota, do you even remember why we went to Colorado? We needed to take care of _the thing,_" he said, glancing at Penny with the last two words.

"Hey guys, go ahead. It's not like I need a security detail or something. Bye," she said, waving to Jason as she walked away with her luggage. She rolled the suitcases outside, hailing one of the passing cabs at the airport. The cabbie put her bags in the trunk and held the door open for her, driving off after she buckled in.

_Maybe I should have gotten some way to contact him,_ she thought before remembering the meeting with the mysterious toga lady.

Whatever the case with Jason Grace, if he was a monster, or enemy demigod, or something else, he could wait. After all, she had to go home. It was going to be nice to see her mother again.

She'd probably freak out if she knew that Penny fell asleep on a stranger.

_Oh well, _she shrugged internally, _it's not like I'll see him again._


End file.
